This is a useful survey of the American novel from roughly 1890 to 1990. As in his similar survey of the British novel each chapter begins with a short sweeping cultural and literary overview followed by discussion of major figures and some of their work. This book is much more disciplined than the rather baggy, underedited, and verbose British volume. As the book gets closer to the present the coverage skews between what amount to somewhat sketchy annotated lists and longer set pieces clearly based on previously published reviews. Curiously, the "List of Major Works" includes a number of writers not covered in the text, and vice versa. There is an extended annotated bibliography. ( )